Overview

Science is a fascinating and engaging subject which can ﬁre a student’s curiosity about phenomena in the world around them. It engages learners at many levels, linking direct practical experience with scientiﬁc ideas. It is a fundamental part of our culture in a world which is constantly evolving and in which scientiﬁc knowledge and understanding is advancing rapidly. Science is a key part of the STEM range of subjects and provides our students with the necessary skills to pursue careers in many STEM related industries.

At Key Stage 3 students follow our bespoke course, which we have developed in order to meet the needs of all our students. The scheme of work covers all the main key scientific concepts that are required to ensure good progression onto GCSE science courses. In addition, our scheme encourages students to ‘work scientifically’ thereby developing the skills necessary to be successful in science. Each topic includes at least one open ended investigation which is designed to stimulate student’s curiosity about science as well as provide a genuine opportunity for investigation.

Students will receive 3 pieces of homework per topic – 1 on spellings or equations, 1 made up of past paper questions and 1 on revision for an end of unit test. In addition, there will be an extra creative homework set each topic, where students are able to be as creative and innovative as they want. This will then be celebrated once per half term.

Verbal feedback is a regular part of all lessons but students will additionally receive key feedback on their work at least 3 times per unit, which they will be given time to respond to and improve their work.

At the end of each topic students will either sit an online test or a written test. As the year progresses, the test will cover all of the work they have studied.